AMAZON boss Jeff Bezos had his company compared to a "heroin dealer" during a historic anti-trust hearing today.
On Wednesday, Amazonboss Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc Google's parent company Apple's Tim Cook were accused of squeezing out competitors and small businesses.
9
9
9
The highly successful tech moguls were all sworn in to address lawmakers at the Rayburn House Office Building inWashington, DC.
Congressman David N. Cicilline said small businesses the committee had spoken to compared their relationship with Amazon to that of heroin pusher or "drug dealer."
"[Amazon is] exploiting its monopoly power,"Cicilline said. "It's dual role [with sellers]... is fundamentally uncompetitive."
Likewise, Zuckerberg was grilled by Rep PramilaJayapalabout whether he had threatened competitors like Instagram founder Kevin Systrom and Snapchat's Evan Spiegelabout their product's features.
Jayapal recounted for her fellow lawmakers how Systrom felt Zuckerberg would go into "destroy mode" if he refused to sell Instagram.
9
9
When she directly asked the tech mogul if his company ever copied features from other organizations, his answer was vague.
"We've certainly adapted features ... as have others," he said, before denying that Facebook had threatened to clone a competitor while trying to buy it.
"Not that I recall," he added as Jayapal reminded Zuckerberg that he was "under oath."
The congresswoman also referenced a 2012 email wherein Zuckerberg noted that it would be a "while before we can buy Google.
"[You've] used Facebook's power to threaten smaller competitors and to ensure you always get your way," Jayapal declared.
9
9
Earlier, Rep Neguse asked Zuckerberg whether he has a monopoly, which he denied.
"Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram are the most downloaded apps of the last decade," the congressman noted.
"Your company, sir, owns them all. We have a word for that. That word is monopoly."
Zuckerberg, Bezos, Cook, and Pichai were all asked to swear an oath not to use slave labor in their respective companies during the lengthy hearing.
Bezos launched into his testimony first shortly after 1.30 pm, followed by Pichai, Cook, and Zuckerberg who described Facebook repeatedly as an "American success story."
9
All three of the businessmen emphasized the innovation of their respective companies and the significant job creation while bring grilled by Committee members.
Rep Raskin asked Zuckerberg about election interference on Facebook, fake profile pages, and "alt-right racist" content.
Zuckerberg said their AI systems aim to identify this "with the goal of getting this stuff down before people even see it."
Speaking about their 6.5 billion fake accounts, Zuckerberg said they try to remove billions of accounts every year a small amount of these are "nation states" trying to interfere, he said.
Rep Sensebrenner also raised the issue of Trump promoting hydroxychloroquine during the hearing.
9
"We do not prohibit discussion about trials of drugs," Zuckerberg said. "But if somebody is going to say it's proven when it's not..."
After a brief recess due to tech issues, the committee resumed and Jayapal grilled Bezos about Amazon using sellers' data.
She asked him about whether the policy againstusing seller specific data was really enforced after employers claimed it was "like a candy shop."
"The fact that we have such a policy is voluntary I dont think any other realtor has such a policy," Bezos said, after saying he "can't answer that question [with a] yes or no" when it came to violations.
Rep McBath concluded her address to Bezos asking if Amazon used "bullying,fear and panic" to control their sellers.
She played a recording to one book seller begging Bezos to get back on track."
Pichai was the first to be grilled by Cicilline, who said small businesses had accused Google of stealing content.
He also queried why Google shows what ever is profitable rather than relevant when users are looking for something.
"I disagree with that characterizations," Pichai responded, citing the 1.4 million small businesses they assist.
Cicilline also accused Google of stealing content from Yelp, describing it as "anti-competitive."
"Google is increasingly a walled garden that keeps users on its own sits," Cicilline said. "Virtually ensuring that any business that wants to be seen on the web, has to pay Google a tax."
Congressman Gaetz also threw a series of China-related questions at Pichai, who denied Google was in cahoots with the communist country.
Gaetz cited claims that his company was "directly aiding the Chinese military" via their AI Center and working with universities.
Pichai denied these claims.
Rep Jordan also expressed his concerns that Google would assist Joe Biden over Donald Trump come November and "electioneering."
Pichai said they complied with laws in 2016 and that their work was non-partisan.
Lawmakers also quizzed Cook about claims that Apple changes the app rules as they go to benefit the phone giant at the expense of developers.
"We treat every developer the same," Cook insisted. "It's a rigorous process ... We do look at every app before it goes on."
Cook said it wasn't correct to say that some app developers were favored over others, however.
Just before 4.30 pm, the committee went on another recess.
After the recess, McBath questioned Cook about Apple excluding apps from the app store that it may deem competition.
"Before [Apple's app] screen time existed, there were other apps that limited kids [screen time]... You removed these competing apps from the app store Why did apple remove competing apps?
"We were concerned about the privacy and security of kids," Cook said. He added that there are now "over 30 apps" today.
Cicilline questioned Zuckerberg about a Breitbart video showing doctors promoting the drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19 and face masks not being necessary.
MAC ATTACKMcDonald's store hit by coronavirus outbreak as 5 staff test positive for bug
'NO WAY BACK'Harry and Meg 'face permanent exile from Royal Family' after bombshell book
FLIGHTMAREJet2 cancels flights and holidays to Cyprus until August 17
maddie mysteryMadeleine McCann cops look drained as three-day dig uncovers secret cellar
BUG ALERTHundreds queue for virus tests in town where '200 crammed into pub like sardines'
HIGH ALERTDon't shut down UK again, experts warn PM - despite fears of second wave
He questioned how the video amassed over 20million views in 5 hours before being removed.
"A lot of people shared that. And we did take it down because it violates our policies," Zuckerberg said.
Cicilline insisted that Facebook "polices" its own platform and alleged the only person holding the platform accountable is itself.
More:
- Neighborly discord in the Galwan Valley - Observer Research Foundation [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Why human beings are so irrational, and never learn podcasts of the week - The Guardian [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Canceling Joe Rogan Would be the Left's Worst Nightmare - Here's Why - CCN.com [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Down with symbols - The News International [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Neil Gorsuch Stuns the Nation, Does the Right Thing - The Nation [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- The Voice of America Will Sound Like Trump - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- License to Analyze Media - The Dispatch [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- New Boss May Test Voice of Americas Credibility - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Destroying the Statues of Slavers to Rewrite History - Morocco World News [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- What to Cook Right Now - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- The Voice Of America Is Not The Voice Of Trump - The Pavlovic Today [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Philly residents call for Taney Street to be renamed - PhillyVoice.com [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Wizards Ends Their Relationship with Terese Nielsen - Hipsters of the Coast [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Magic: The Gathering Ends Relationship With Controversial Artist - We Got This Covered [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- How game theory not chaos rules the Trump White House - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- What we know about the 'Boogaloo Bois,' the far-right group tied to killings in Santa Cruz and Oakland - San Francisco Chronicle [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Four Years Embedded With the Alt-Right - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Influence of COVID-19 Crisis on Global Right-Wing Agenda - Valdai Discussion Club [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Mendocino County Board of Supervisors Approves Issuance of Fines for Refusing to Wear Facial Coverings - Redheaded Blackbelt [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2020]
- Far Right Reading List Shows Link Between Its Literature and Real-World Violence - Truthout [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2020]
- America Is in the Grips of a Fundamentalist Revival - The Dispatch [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2020]
- New Zealand police warned of another mosque threat before Christchurch shooting massacre - Reuters [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2020]
- The saffron swastika - The Express Tribune [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2020]
- Banned by PayPal and YouTube, this alt-right comedian is back on PayPal and YouTube (updated) - The Daily Dot [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2020]
- Why White House Catholics are concerned about Trumps Catholic tweets - Catholic News Agency [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- GAA's tiresome culture war insults and ignores players - RTE.ie [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- Review: Rabbit Hole hops into the Internets greatest failures and successes - The Charlatan [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- Colleges are flimflamming college students and parents about reopening in the fall (opinion) - Inside Higher Ed [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- New Conservatives defend Western culture as 'greatest in the world', warn NZ 'sliding toward socialism' - Newshub [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- Fire Island Partier Who Flouted COVID Rules Says He's Not Sorry, Reveals Himself to Be QAnon Follower: WATCH - Towleroad [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- 'Draining the swamp' and other metaphors - Idaho State Journal [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- Fire Island partier who flouted coronavirus rules refuses to apologise: 'I'm not going to fall for the lab-made virus' - PinkNews [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- Slate Star Codex and Silicon Valleys War Against the Media - The New Yorker [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- Alt-Weeklies Face Total Annihilation. But Theyre Thriving in the Chaos. - The Ringer [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- Dana Canedy, the New Head of Simon & Schuster, on Facts, Diversity, and the Future of Publishing - The New Yorker [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- The fallacy of white privilege and how it's corroding society - New York Post [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- Facing America's History of Racism Requires Facing the Origins of 'Race' as a Concept - TIME [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- Stone Shares Meme With Roots In Alt-Right To Attack Judge - TPM [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- When it comes to modern slavery, many of us turn a blind eye - iNews [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- How to add alt text to images on Twitter so that they can be read with screen readers - Business Insider - Business Insider [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- A decade of emoji: How aubergines and crying faces connected us all online - The Independent [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- A Dreyfusard from the Right - Twilight of Democracy - Visegrad Insight [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- The Man in the Antifa Mask: Who he is and why he regrets showing up at a Coeur d'Alene protest with a crowbar - Pacific Northwest Inlander [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- Best of Philly: Heres to the People Who Protested - Philadelphia magazine [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- Lincoln the Emancipator: The Civil War & the Continuous Battle against Northern Negrophobia (Part 1 of a two-part series) - Milwaukee Courier... [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- The Fascist Messaging of the Trump Campaign Eagle - Hyperallergic [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- AOC on League of Legends: Right-wing Twitter is childs play compared to inting 13-year-olds - VG247 [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- MSNBC's Joy Reid Makes Cable Network History With the Debut of "The ReidOut" - Vogue [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- NY: Hundreds of free Uber e-bikes coming to WNY for proposed 'transportation libraries' - MassTransitMag.com [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- What is alt text on Instagram? How to add alt text - Business Insider - Business Insider [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- What is the deal with 'woke' culture and writing letters? - The National [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- The Return of the Cooch - Bacon's Rebellion [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- Anti-Greta and the challenges faced by young activists | Forge - ForgeToday [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- Anti-maskers bring their misinformation to Halifax - Halifax Examiner [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- MSNBCs Joy Reid Makes Cable-Network History With the Debut of The ReidOut - Vogue [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- Is This Roger Stone and Proud Boys Flashing a White Power Symbol? - Snopes.com [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- Trump's pick to head Office of Personnel Management spread 'satanic' conspiracy theory, called Democrats party of 'Islam' and 'gender-bending' -... [Last Updated On: July 24th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 24th, 2020]
- Joe Rogan Is Spreading Transphobic Hate Speech and It's Putting Lives in Danger - Men's Health [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2020]
- 'Pure Invention': How Japan's pop culture became the 'lingua franca' of the internet - The Japan Times [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2020]
- Redefine Meat wants to disrupt meat industry with 3D printed Alt-Steak - Food Dive [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2020]
- How it feels to survive Silicon Valley and a pandemic - Engadget [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2020]
- New Mexico's thin blurred line (The thin blurred line) High Country News Know the West - High Country News [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2020]
- Artist Canyon Castator Is Making The Apocalypse Palatable - Interview [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2020]
- Does Tucker Carlson hate America? - The Independent [Last Updated On: July 25th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 25th, 2020]
- How to add alt text in Excel to make images accessible - Business Insider - Business Insider [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Why Portland Became the Test Case for Trumps Secret Police - The Nation [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- What IS your point? - The Bear Insider [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- What is alt text in WordPress? How to add image descriptions on your web page to improve accessibility and web - Business Insider India [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Herman Mashaba: Why he might draw the crowds at election time Chuck Stephens - BizNews [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- How Brooks Brothers Became a Symbol of What Not to Wear to the Revolution - TownandCountrymag.com [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Hillsdale Must Join the National Reckoning on Race - The Bulwark [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- What is alt text in WordPress? How to add the accessibility feature - Business Insider - Business Insider [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Pittsburgh-based Steelers reporter quits PennLive in protest of site calling a Nazi rally "peaceful" - PGH City Paper [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- 'You Do the Right Things, and Still You Get It' - The New York Times [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Who wants to cancel cancel culture? The voiceless or the privileged? - Coconuts [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Courtney Love hopes Jeffrey Epstein burns in hell after her name appeared in his address book - The Independent [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Elon Musk has finally confirmed whether his take the red pill tweet was a Trump endorsement - indy100 [Last Updated On: August 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 1st, 2020]
- The Lakers Hold On to Beat the Clippers in Thriller - The New York Times [Last Updated On: August 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 1st, 2020]
- The Fight review: A jubilant look at changing the world for the better - Evening Standard [Last Updated On: August 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 1st, 2020]
- Mike Foltynewicz clears waivers, sent to Braves alternate site - Sports and Weather Right Now [Last Updated On: August 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 1st, 2020]